Dr Tong then asked the audience to delete the items that they were willing to give up in order. As a result, they all found that "family" was the last item that remained. This test reflects that family is in fact the most important thing in life for most people, while money was also perceived as important. Without any doubt, a healthy financial management is a crucial life obligation. Under the impact of the global financial crises, shall we explore the core values of financial education? We would like to share with readers the comments and views from the book, entitled "Wisdom on Financial Management", published by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Healthy Budgeting Family Debt Counselling Centre.

The book considers that when coupled with appropriate value education, financial education can help us become good citizens who are independent, balanced in development, highly trained in value judgment, responsible, progressive, and willing to devote themselves to their families and society.

Hong Kong people nowadays pursue everything from the perspective of material benefits, interests and returns, and seek to maximise their gains with the most convenient means. Such a trend of expediency has become increasingly prevalent among different social classes. With the rise of consumerism, Hong Kong people have begun to identify their status, based on the amount and type of material goods they own. If Hong Kong focusses overwhelmingly on pursuit of wellbeing in material terms but ignores cultivation of characters and values, it will become a materialistic city. Growing up in a materialistic and cosmopolitan environment, young people can easily fall prey to consumerism or hedonism, and their psychological qualities and state of mind will definitely be affected.

In society, however, it is difficult to identify a single value that sees an ideal integration of the views on both money and life. The publisher has managed to identify six values that are most relevant to financial management and money. These six core values are the focus of discussion in the book:

Aspirations	Unwavering attitude in pursuit of goals and values
Diligence	The best indication of one's willpower and persistence
Responsibility	Do one's best to fulfil promises and win trust
Self-improvement	Face challenges in life and learn humbly in pursuit of excellence
Self-control	Self-discipline is key to a simple life
Generosity	Wholehearted devotion and sharing to show love and care

The above listed values and principles can serve as a starting point on financial education to ensure that people can have a better grasp of their goals in life and financial capability.

(Extracted from "Wisdom on Financial Management" published by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Healthy Budgeting Family Debt Counselling Centre)

Do you find the above six core values familiar? Do they have anything in common with the Force values? PS&SR Branch will further discuss these six core values in financial education in this series. PS&SR Branch also welcomes Force members to submit articles to share their experiences with readers via e-mail to cip-sr@police.gov.hk or by post to PS&SR Branch at 38/F, Arsenal House, Police Headquarters, No. 1 Arsenal Street, Wan Chai.